The recent widespread use of personal computers (hereafter appropriately referred to as PCs) and digital video tape recorders (hereafter appropriately referred to as DVs) allows users to capture the video data taken through their DVs into their PCs to record the video data to DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs).
Conventionally, however, capturing the video data taken through a DV into a PC and authoring the captured video data (for example, recording the captured video data to a DVD) are separate processes, so that recording the video data taken with the DV requires the user to perform complicated jobs and with a lot of time.
To be more specific, when recording the video data taken with the DV to a DVD, the user must manually start up an application software program for capturing the video data of DV format from the DV into the PC (refer to non-patent document 1) (this program hereafter referred to as a data acquisition program) on the PC and perform operations (manual operations) specified by the data acquisition program, thereby capturing the video data from the DV into the PC, the captured video data being stored in the hard disk drive for example in the PC in the DV format.
Next, the user manually starts up the data acquisition program and then manually starts up an application software program for recording the video data stored in the hard disk drive to a DVD (refer to non-patent document 2) (this application software program hereafter referred to as a DVD writing program) on the PC, performs operations (manual operations) specified in the DVD writing program to convert the format of the video data stored in the hard disk drive into DVD format, records the video data of DVD format to a DVD, and, when this recording ends, manually exits the DVD writing program.
As described, when recording the video data taken with the DV to a DVD by use of the PC, the user must perform a complicated job involving a plurality of manual operations which require a lot of time.
[Non-patent document 1] “DVgate” products description, “online”, Sony Drive Home Page, “searched on Aug. 30, 2002”, Internet <URL: http://www.sony.jp/products/Comsumer/PCOM/Software—02q2/DVg ate/index.html>
[Non-patent document 2] “Simple DVD Maker” products description, “online”, Sony Drive Home Page, description of “Simple DVD Maker”, “searched on Aug. 30, 2002”, Internet, <URL: http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PCOM/Fun/DVD-RW/>